stay tuned for all that enough and the latest from west virginia as we roll on. martha: we'll see you tomorrow. jane: good morning, i'm jane skinner, jon: i'm jon scott, "happening now" in the top box, minutes away from the news conference with the governor of west virginia on the country's deadliest mine disaster in 25 years. we expect we'll hear more about the fate of those four miners still missing. jane: in the middle we're waiting to see in court attorneys for three teenagers charged with bullying the 15-year-old girl, phoebie prince, so merslessly, according to prosecutors, she committed suicide. these kids are among nine classmates charged in her death. jon: in the bottom locks, eon gonzalez captivated the nation in 199 before he was sent back to cuba. guess what, he's 16 years old now. we'll show you what he looks like. jane: here's what's happening now in the newsroom, live pictures, we're working hard to bring you the latest on all that's developing. jon: we begin in west virginia, where a stunned

community prays and hose, at least 25 miners dead after an underground explosion yesterday after that. the upper big branch mine in the heart of west virginia coal country, about 30 miles southeast of charleston, south washington. -- west virginia. rescuers are drilling homes to prevent poisonous gas from the mines so search teams can look for possible survivors, president obama calling west virginia governor joe manchin last night to offer federal assistance and sending condolences to family members during a prayer breakfast earlier this morning at the white house. >> i would ask for the faithful who have gathered here this morning, to pray for the safe return of the missing, the men and women who put their lives on the line to save them and the souls of those who have been lost in this tragic accident, may they rest in peace and may their families find comfort in the days ahead. jon: steve centanni is live in montcoal, virginia, the

bore holes they are drilling to relieve that gas, how is the process going, steve? >> reporter: very, very slowly. they've got one underway, they've started the next two in the past couple of hours but that's going to take them until at least tonight to get them done and probably into tomorrow, depends on who you talk to. there are varying answers on that. it's a slow, tedious process because they're going to have to go from the top of the mountain, straight down into the shafts and that's 1100 feet underground, when you consider the surface they're starting from. it's slow and tedious and they're going to have to go through abandoned mine spaces so we really don't know when they're going to complete that, and it's key, it's crucial, they have to get the drills -- the holes drilled to met theo get the gas out, they can clear the air, get the air down there sos are cue crews can go in. they were in overnight but they had to pull back because of that toxic air and poor visibility. they couldn't really see more than a couple of feet

in front of theirs faces, so it's going to be crucial to get the homes drilled, jon. jon: it has to be awful for the families of the missing. how are they holding up? >> reporter: well, it is. it's the worst possible circumstance. certainly it's nothing new to the west virginia coal mining community, but it's always a shock, it's always tragic, there are grief-stricken families here who really don't know whether their loved ones are alive or dead because there are four who have been unaccounted for. some who the families believe they're dead because they've been told by one person or more than one person, but the company, the coal company, has not notified them formally, so they're still waiting on that. so a lot of apprehension, a lot of waiting and a lot of the agony for those families. the red cross is helping to take care of them, they're at a training center on mining property now, being held there, and given all the care they can possibly be given. but of course, this is horrible for them. jon: steve centanni in

montcoal, west virginia, thank you. more times than he would probably like to count, the very public face of disasters like this has belonged to west virginia's governor, joe manchin. we are expecting a news conference from him. it has been postponed. we now expect it to take place within the next 30 minutes or so. when he steps up to the microphones to bring you the latest, we'll take you there live. jane: -- jane: want to give you context, massey energy owns the mines, it is among the most profitable but the company has a spotty safety record we're learning about this morning. in just the past year we're told federal inspectors fined the company $400,000 for repeated violations involving ventilation plans and equipment at this upper big branch mine. bruce dyle is certified mine safety professional, he's with us this morning. in your opinion, what happened here? >> well, evidently, there was a large explosion. we don't know what caused the explosion yet, whether it was methane from an abandoned area of the mine

or from methane that was in the existing portion of it being worked at the time. jane: there's been some -- >> but usually the -- >> jane: go ahead, i'm sorry. >> so usually the methane is the first explosion, and that stirs up the coal dust that's in the mine, and the coal dust exploding carries it on through the mine, then. jane: there's been so much talk about this buildup of methane, and whether this was avoidable. how do you prevent a buildup of that? >> well, it's an -- in an abandoned section of the mine, they can seal it. every time there's an opening that would lead them back into that abandoned section, they can seal those openings, and then keep a check on them to see if there's any methane getting through or air getting through to the other side. but that could be many different seals or it could just be one or two, depending upon where the abandoned mine is located. jane: do you expect ultimately after this investigation is completed, which could take some time,

that there would be neglect involved in this or some sort of violation? >> it's entirely possible. any time you have seals that have to be inspected on a regular basis, sometimes the inspections aren't done correctly or at the proper time, and they start with real small leaks and then it builds into a bigger problem. jane: bruce, i did want to ask you, about just on sunday, an auditor released this information about the federal agency, which is known as the msha, they found while msha had been hiring more inspectors which is good, the ones currently on staff have not been kept up to date on their training. does that surprise you? >> yes. they've been hiring a large number of what we call entry level inspectors, and they take about 21 weeks of training at the academy. meanwhile, the older inspectors, they are still required to have one to two

weeks of training her year -- per year, and what my understanding is is these older inspectors, german level, haven't been getting the one or two weeks of training they should have been getting. jane: bruce dyl -- bruce dial, certified mining inspector, thank you for your expertise this morning. jon: a live picture 3 miles off of the island of key biscayne, what you see burning there is the remnants of what used to be a 57-foot carver, we're told, unknown how this thing caught fire. there were two people on board, they jumped into the water when the fire broke out and they have been rescued, passing boaters plucked them out of the water. the good news is, there's an awful lot of boat traffic in that port of the florida straits. they have been rescued, they are now on board a government boat, border -- u.s. customs and border protection boat. exactly how this thing caught fire, that will be determined at some point,

but right now you can see what used to be a beautiful boat is just a floating hulk melted fiberglass, basically. when we get more information about the situation there, we'll bring it to you live. jane: "happening now", in washington, we are waiting for an announcement concerning the obama administration's priorities when it comes to our nuclear weapons and defense. already, some information out this morning about this announcement, what it will include. we're hearing now that the government is looking to reduce the role of nuclear weapons to deter attacks, saying it would only consider the use of nuclear weapons in, quote, extreme circumstances. what's more, we expect the document will tell us how many nukes we're going to get rid of and what we're doing with the ones we will keep. we're going to have much more on this coming up in our next hour. jon: they say you can't make everyone happy all the tile and that's definitely the case when it comes to president obama and the 9/11 terror trials. the president is under heavy pressure to scrap the plans to try accused 9/11 mastermind khalid shaikh mohammed in civilian court.

opponents of that approach would prefer that ksm and his four alleged coconspirators face a military tribunal but now that the president appears to be considering that option he's getting all kinds of criticism from his left plank. molly henneberg is live from the d.c. bureau. some of the 9/11 families, molly, are joining this debate, huh? >> >> reporter: jon, yes, a group called september 11th families for a peaceful tomorrows has sent a video, pressing the president to hold the trials in civilian courts and saying if he decides to keep them in military commissions, these families would consider that, quote, buckling to political pressure, and, quote, the wrong thing to do. the video features the mother of one of the women who was killed in the world trade center towers on 9/11. the peaceful tomorrow group says it's an advocacy organization that seeks, quote, effective, nonviolent responses to terrorism. jon: it seems like the left is pretty convinced the

president is letting them down with this possible decision? >> reporter: well, a final decision hasn't been made yet on where and how to hold these trials. the obama administration is said to be rethinking its decision to hold them in civilian court, in new york city, but yes, if they end up in -- staying in military commissions, some democratic strategists say the white house is calculating that holding a civilian trial would be damaging to the obama administration. here's more. >> they're reacting to political fallout, essentially, and saying okay, well, we're going to think about this, and all indications are that they're probably going to lose the trial to a military tribunal. this goes against what any liberal would think in terms of due process, rule of law, so i think it's a huge, huge disappointment. >> reporter: powers says a bigger disappointment to the left, though, was the government-run health insurance plan or public option was not included in the health care reform bill. jon: molly henneberg, live from washington, thank you.

jane: new developments in the case of phoebie prince, the 15-year-old who prosecutors say her life was made so miserable by bullies at her school she ended up killing herself. we expect to see lawyers for three of the teenagers charged in this case in court today, plus it was mosh ten years ago that we were all glued to our tv screens, remember elion gonzalez, the tug-of-war that played out over this boy from cuba? elian is now 16 years old. we'll show you.

jon: quarter past the hour and "happening now" in the top box, a second female bomber has been identified in the moscow attacks that left 40 dead, the two involved, 17, and 28, a chechan military leader claims responsibility for the attack warning attacks on russian cities will continue. middle box, more trouble for toyota, transportation secretary ray la hood says

the u.s. plans to seek a $16.4 million fine against the automaker, saying toyota knowingly hid safety problems from regulators. bottom box, treasury secretary tim geithner travels through india today as part of a new effort to forge closer ties with that nation. geithner is there to promote trade and investment. jane: right now we're waiting arraignment of three of the nine teenagers charged in the bullying case in massachusetts. fifteen-year-old stevie -- phoebie prince killed herself in january, prosecutors say she suffered what they called unrelenting bullying, set to be arraigned today, 217-year-olds, one spls 18-year-old, you'll see it on the screen, this will happen in massachusetts. molly line is in north hampton president the teenagers themselves are not going to be in court. why is that? >> reporter: their lawyers have essentially filed paperwork waiving their right to appear so they'll be represented by counsel but will not be here in person. shawn mulville of south

hadley, criminal har hsment, violation of civil rights and statutory rape, a serious charge, could carry a penalty of life in prison, as well as being forced to register as a sexond every, also kaleie nairy of south hadley, she is among the first girls to be arraigned in the case, she faces criminal harassment charlings and charges of violation of civil rights and 18-year-old austin renaud of springfield, also facing statutory rape charges. on thursday three other teenage girls will be arraigned in the case and there are three others younger facing delinquency charges as well. the court proceedings are just getting underway, and in the beginnings of this case, it could take quite a long time to get to the bowl of and finally finish out. jane? jane: the long road to trial in these types of cases, how is the community dealing with all of this? >> understandably, this is a very difficult situation. they have lost one teenager, and there are now nine others facing charges. there's a lot of anger, there's a lot of blame going around, there are some

parents who think the school should have been held more accountable, the descrilt attorney say the school's actions or inactions were troublesome, but they will not be facing charges. a long road, because there's still testimony to come out, there are trials ahead, so this won't be over any time soon, jane. jane: molly line in missouri for us, molly, thank you. she's been following this story, keeping us updated on line. molly line online, how about that, you can go to foxnews.com,/live shots, molly will keep you updated on all that is happening on this arraignment in the phoebie prince case, and also see what other other reporters are up to. there's a lot of interesting stuff there. jon: remember elian gonzalez, a cuban boy ordered back to that country ten years after an international custody battle. he was found floating off the coast of florida in an innertube after his mother and others trying to get out of cuba drowned. they were trying to reach freedom in the u.s. janet reno sent the boy back

to his father. elian is 16 years old now and cuba has just released some new photos of him attending a meeting for young communists, looking very serious, elian is wearing an olive green uniform with red shoulder patches, common among military schools on that island. gonzalez formally joined the union in 2008. to this day elian and his father remain closely watched by state authorities who restrict their contact with outsiders. jane: american troops have been fighting and dying in afghanistan to try to bring freedom and stability to that country. now the president of afghanistan, hamid karzai, has said he might just align with the taliban. these comments come just about a month before his scheduled visit to the white house. reaction to what so many consider an outrageous statement.

jane we want to take you live to key biscayne, florida, harris has been watching since the boat was engulfed in flames. >> reporter: i want to draw your attention to something happening now. we reported the two people on board managed to escape, picked up by another boat. it looks like they're trying to coordinate, and this is not easy to do, they're trying to line up the boats in pretty choppy water now. they've had the people put on life jackets. these may in fact be the people who were rescued. they're trying to get them it would appear on to the coast guard boat and they're having difficulty doing that. if we can look at those pictures, i want to show everybody, wow, getting away from this in any way, shape or form was very fortunate for the two people on this. this boat is 3 miles off of coast of key biscayne, florida, and they called in marine units to help out with this, the coast guard getting some support down there for this 57-foot carver boat. i don't know how this caught

on fire yet. authorities are not able to release any information about the investigation because it's just too soon so far. again if the -- with the live picture, it looks like they've gotten the two people, there they are, the center of the boat, on with the life jackets. they'll have questions for them no doubt but those people i'm sure are thankful for the casual boaters who happened to be passing by and plucked them out of harm's way. they jumped off as the flames got going and you saw them, an inferno and that fire, by the way, is out. back to you. jane: harris, thank you very much. jon: a series of blasts, tearing through apartment buildings in baghdad. the iraqi government saying at least 45 people died in those four explosions, with more than 100 more hurt. the military blames al-qaeda for these attacks, which just underscores the scariest security situation in iraq. after last month's electricals failed to produce a clear winner. jane: right now curity is very tight in pakistan, after the deadly attack on

the u.s. consulate in peshawar, the devastation from that attack is still quite visible, rubble from the building and a damaged armoured vehicle are on site there, four people killed when militants hit the consulate with a car bomb and grenade attacks yesterday morning. we're getting confirmation out of afghanistan, nato and afghan forces launching an operation in the western part of the cup. there are reports that coalition forces have taken out 27 taliban fighters, appearing to have dealt a blow to the influence in that region. we're going to bring you more on this, more as we get it. jon: the white house faces more concerns over our relationship with afghanistan's president, this after hamid karzai threatens to join the taliban if he continues to get international pressure to institute reforms. a lot of people say this is just political hyperboly but with the white house press secretary calling the statement troubling, it comes as karzai battles with the u.n. over the election monitoring process. let's talk about it with

lieutenant colonel tony schafer with the advanced center for defense studies, he worked on a taliban counter offensive and is familiar with the thinking of general stanley mcchrystal, the man running our war effort there. if you're general mcchrystal, tony, and all of the sudden this guy we've been fighting alongside, hamid karzai, trying to help prop up his bottom, trying to help that country stabilize itself and all of the sudden, he says nah, i'm thinking about joining the taliban, what do you do if you're general mcchrystal? >> let's look at this as if you're building a house, you have the greatest architect in the world design it for you, put everything in it, but if you're building that house on sand which is unstable and can wash away, it's questionable how wise you are. the comments lately by president karzai are very truck ling, and i got to tell you on a scale of 1-10, 10 being bad, this is as bad as it gets. the question is, is it fatal, is this something recoverable or not, and at this point in time, it basically -- basically the

ambassador there, ambassador ikeen burger, has been returning up the air waves between he and the white house, calling president karzai more and more erratic, increasingly erratic is i believe the term used according to one of the sources we have. so this causes great concern, and frankly, jon, i'm not sure if we're going to be able to meet the objectives that the president has put down by next summer based on this alone. jon: right, the president wants to start withdrawing u.s. forces. >> absolutely. jon: in the summer. but you're saying you don't see that happening? >> no. frankly, again, it's a good news-bad news situation. the taliban defeat that you just referred to, the previous article, 27, was a very sophisticated operation where the afghan army jumped in via parachutes, they are actually improving their ability to conduct military operations. that's not much in doubt. i think we can train people and do that. but the hold build proportion is totally a

question here and unless something can be done, and we're walking a fine line here, jon, we can't control afghanistan. it's not our job to run the country. but we can't go on looking the other way, thinking that president carr wry is going to be a good partner if he's talking about joining the taliban. these concepts are incongruous. jon: he's supposed to come to the white house in a month or so for a visit. should that visit go on, should the white house think about canceling it? what do you do? >> well, i think clearly it should happen, and i'd like to believe that there will be some level of sense that comes out of the meeting. frankly, i think we're looking at a very similar situation to president diem during vietnam. our center, we don't like comparing this war to vietnam but in this case there's a very clear indication we have a similar situation where the central government may not be able to sustain itself and be a good partner within the context of the counterinsurgency policy that has been established. this is something the white house has to look at very carefully. jon: lieutenant colonel tony

schafer, center for advanced studies, thank you. >> thank you. jane: we're waiting at this hour for a news conference on the mining disaster in west virginia, just about to get underway with the governor, joe manchin, 25 are dead, we're hoping to hear more on those missing. we'll bring it to you when it begins. so much out age about the multi-million-dollar salaries and bonuses on wall street in the wake of the financial collapse. the big bosses have been taking pay cuts, but guess who is raking in more money than ever? jenna lee with the answer.

jane: "happening now" in the top box, united states and south korea are form ago joint evens gative team to look into the cause of a mysterious explosion that sank a south korean ship near north korea, 45 crew members feared dead. australia's prime minister outraged after a chinese ship carrying coal run aground on a great barrier reef, there are fears that oil leaking from this vessel could damage the

world's largest corral reef, could take weeks for crews to remove the ship. on the bottom, at&t says it will spend a billion dollars this year to broaden its network. the company says it will enhance services for large businesses worldwide and expand its offerings for small businesses in the united states. jon: we are waiting for that news conference to get underway. there's a live look at the microphones in montcoal, west virginia, after the deadly explosion near there. folks from across the region are gathering to offer the families involved hope and support. they are also still hoping that four miners still unaccounted for somehow were able to reach air-tight chambers that are stocked with food, water and enough oxygen for them to live for up to four days. when tragedy strikes a coal mining community, miners and their kin treat each other like one big family. joining us on the phone in harpo, west virginia, grace lafferty, her brother is a minor and her nephew has worked in the upper big branch mine.

it's a mine, grace, everyone thought was fairly safe, huh? >> well, from what we were told, it was supposed to be a safe mine. i don't really know a lot of the statistics on the mine. but one of my nephews helped put it in. he didn't actually work underground in that mine but he helped put that new part in that hasn't been there very long, the part where the explosion took place, i understand that it's a fairly new entrance to an existing mine. jon: the government has fined the company, massey energy, almost $400,000 in the last year for safety violations, specifically involving that mine and specifically involving efforts to prevent methane release. i mean, was that widely known in the community? >> i would be afraid to really speculate on something and say what is not so. because i don't really know the stats on that. but i'm hearing that now, that there was quite a few

violations at that mine. i wasn't really aware of it at the time. there has been some real negative publicity down there about mountaintop removal, and it was on national news and it was quite an uproar, but at a time like this, those kind of things are put aside and all the families came together and people who had been rallying against massey coal actually, some of those people were there supporting the families, because at a time like this, it's all about the men. and their families. and all the community really cares about is let's get them men outside. jon: i imagine the community has pretty much come to a standstill today. how is everybody holding up? >> i was there all night, i left about 6:00 this morning when they brought the recovery teams back out and the drilling had stopped, the methane. it was -- they were running into problems with the drilling and the methane levels were too high, and we understd that it's going to

be later in the afternoon or early evening before they can even retry to even see if they can go back in, and so it had kind of come to a standstill, but at that point, it was just a very traumatic place to be, because any time an official in the mines or the governor would walk in, it was just silence in the room because each family was waiting to see if it was going to be their name called to be notified. jon: in a tight-lipped community like where you live, just about everybody knows somebody who will have perished or have been touched by this disaster. >> i knew of the men that made it. i didn't really know how many i knew, because here, they moved from shift to shift and mine to mine, and you don't always know where everybody is, unless you just -- it's your immediate family member you do, but friends you can't really keep up with that and i found out when i got to the scene that of the men that had made it off of that shift and made it outside before the blast occurred, i knew at least half of those men personally, and so i'm

still waiting to see -- diknow a few of the families that were down there, two of the young men that was there had actually graduated with my son, they lost their father in the explosion. i haven't even got ahold of my son to even tell him that yet. and so i know there's going to be people that we know that they haven't released the names yet. we just don't know who they are. jon: grace laferty, thank you. this statement from jay rockefeller, he said the devastation felt li the families of these miners is unimaginable, may god home close and may they rest in peace as we mourn their tragic loss. jane: want to get to business news, a lot of ceos have bowed to populist anger and taken pay cuts. the same cannot be said for some who work for them. leading firms have dolled out record pay packages, some traders raking in some that actually dwarfed what their bosses made. jenna, what does this record

look like? >> reporter: it's $140 billion, according to the "wall street journal," jane, that's their analysis of 38 different financial services firms, and if you compare that to previous years, it definitely is a record breaking year. but again, that's total compensation, as well as benefits for everybody. so $140 billion for 2009, that's nearly $20 billion more than 2008. 2007 was an interesting record year for bonuses. it's just a little bit above that, but as you can see, it still beats it out. what's interesting to note here, although the analysis is for 38 different firms, the "wall street journal" took it one step further to look at 18 firms, of those 38, where the ceos had been there for at least three years, and when they looked at those 18 firms, what they found is that pay for the top ceos dropped 30 percent, but overall, total compensation went up, jane. jane: how much more are these employees actually earning? >> that's the thing, in some cases they're earning a lot more. if you're not in a role like executive ceo under fire and

public pressure and political pressure you could be making millions of dollars more than ceos but if you go back to the 18 firms where thes id -- stated on the average pay was $135,000, which is actually lower compared to previous years. one of the reasons is with all the mergers and acquisitions that happened during this financial crisis, you have more people, but relatively the same pie, so everyone is going for a piece of that pie and maybe not being able to grab quite as much. also, jane, it's important to note, the financial services sector really did get hit with job losses. if you take a look at the top five sectors, and how they have really been hit during the recession, financial activities is among the top five, so although we take a look at these compensations, for again these 38 firms, it's important to note there are hundreds of different firms out there and they've not been immune to the financial crisis, jane. jane: jenna, we'll check back with you next hour, thanks. jon: there is a brand new poll out that asks americans who is more in sync with their view, president obama or the tea party movement.

scott rasmussen, the pollster who took that poll is here with the findings and some analysis. plus, he survived his first news conference, so what's next for tiger woods as he gets ready to play his first appearance on the links in months? phil keating, live in augusta. >> the 4-time master's champion has completed another practice round, golfing behind me at augusta national golf round with mark omira, however, spectators are not certain the scandal is completely behind him as the golfer might have hoped. i'll have the details comingf l, up.

jane let's get to breaking weather news, tornado warnings in parts of michigan. janice is in the weather center for us. what are we looking at here? >> reporter: this is severe weather season, april an may and we have a severe

thunderstorm watch in effect, and tornado warnings within the watch that's good until 2:00 p.m. we could see a tornado watch posted within the hour or two. there's the tornado warning, these are severe thunderstorm warnings, we're starting to see rotation on doppler radar. the areas we're watching, eaton, south michigan, jackson in south central michigan. we're starting to see rotation and you can see the cell moving east wand and detroit is there, you could be in line for some of the severe weather within the hour. also want to point out we have a frontal boundary, behind the frontal boundary, cooler air, moist area ahead of it and that's the ingredients for severe weather. we'll be watching this and will bring you the latest from the fox weather center. jon: any way you slice it, 2010 is going to be a huge year for both political parties but there is a new poll that democrats and republicans might want to check out.

according to the rasmussen reports poll on major issues, more voters say the average tea party member is closer to their views than president barack obama. the margin, 48-44 percent. let's talk about it with independent pollster scott rasmussen of rasmussen reports.com, the gentleman who conducted that poll. you know, in many quarters, the tea party movement gets minimized and marginalized but this suggests some pretty widespread support, huh scott? >> well, it certainly suggests that the issues that are driving the tea party are going to be with us for a while. only one out of six americans says they consider themselves part of the tea party movement, but there's a lot of sympathy for some of the issues, and in fact, most significant number in this poll is that among independent votees, those not affiliated with either party, 50 percent are closer to the tea party, only 38 percent closer to the president. jon: so did you get into the specific issues that have ignited so much passion? >> well, we talk about a lot of those issues all the time, and the biggest issue,

other than the economy that's out there right now is health dare. -- health care, that's an issue that seems to have captured the frustration. remember, voters have been frustrated, they didn't like the bailouts but the bailouts happened, they didn't take the takeover of gm and this happened, took and the health care bill has captured that frustration and even after it's passed, 54 percent of americans say you know what, we want to see it repealed. jon: when you ask political questions like these, 54- 54-42 percent difference between those who favor repeal of health care versus those who would like to keep it in place, in political terms, that's pretty monumental. >> it is. it's very significant. and in this particular issue, the people who vote the most, also happen to be the ones who use the health care system the most, senior citizens. and by a 2-1 margin, those seniors say that this health care law will be bad for the united states. so again, that's part of the reason it will play a big role come november. jon: back to president obama, you asked people about his job approval

ratings, whether or not they approve of the job he's doing. 32 percent of them say they strongly approve, 42 percent strongly disapprove. >> in the last few weeks, what we've seen, the number of strongly disapprove has been very steady for quite a while. among democrats, the enthusiasm has increased, so 32 percent who strongly approve is actually up several points since passage of the health care bill. about six out of ten democrats are not that enthusiastic about the president. jon: so that helped him with his base. >> right, it didn't -- i was going to say, it didn't have any impact on independents or republicans, but it did help energize the democratic base. jon: very quickly, we've got to ask about tiger, 61 percent do not approve. >> that's right. 30 percent have a favorable opinion of tiger woods. that's down from 83 percent before the scandal broke. it's even down from 36 percent in february, and guess what, women have a lower opinion of tiger woods than men.

jon: we'll see what happens if he wins it. scott rasmussen, thank you. >> thank you. jane: speaking of one tiger woods, he is hitting the course in augusta for practice today after a nearly five months away from the game. despite that layoff, though, woods said he would try to win the masters at that news conference he held. he fielded plenty of questions about the embarrassing sex scandal. let's get to phil keating at augusta for us. from what you've seen from the fans, are they in a forgive and forget state of mind? i know you've talked to a lot of them. >> reporter: it's a mixed bag, really. there are a lot of golf purists here who really revere the game of goal and especially this tournament, the master's, at the augusta national club and they don't enjoy the tabloid nature of this story as it's been so sallishously reported since november when tiger woods add that 1-car accident, but then you have others who find what tiger woods did was absolutely pathetic and

they think 4 1/2 months to rebuild a persona and become a new and improved changed man, they find that maybe is not necessarily so again win after all. this is the way magnolia drive, that players enter and exit the augusta national golf club, it's a gorgeous way to enter with a canopy of magnolia leaves and you see people standing around that logo of the masters, the yellow flowers in the shape of usa, this is where we saw tiger woods departing yesterday after his news conference, driving by himself in an suv. every seat was occupied yesterday at the press club here inside the augusta national golf club, about 200 plus reporters on hand, the news conference was led by the agusag national and those people are the ones that actually called on the reporters, and tiger woods did it, addressed his emotional issues, his personal issues, his personal life, as well as his game of golf, and essentially, he says the implosion of his life and his career and the 4 1/2

months he has been contemplating life and moving forward, going through therapy, he basically says he has rediscovered the game. >> the first tee, i'm looking forward to it. i haven't looked forward to that tee shot in a long time, not like this. it feels fun again, you know? that's something that i've been missing. >> why? >> because look what i was engaged in. when you're living a life where you're lying all the time, life's not fun. and that's where i was. >> one of his former alleged mistress, porn star jocelyn james, said she watched the news conference and she finds this genuine mea culpa to be a whole lot of malarkey. that's her. jane: phil keating, thanks. jon: it is official this hour, this nation's nuclear strategy that keeps our country safe, undergoing a

major shift today. president obama will redefine the role of nuclear weapons for america. what does it mean for our security? and no shortage of celebrity deaths linked to prescription drug abuse. anna nicole smith, michael jackson, heath legere, but the problem goes way beyond hollywood. there's a big spike in e.r. visits, more and more americans overdosing. some alarming stats. why is it all happening? we know a lot of you are online while you're watching. if you want to get a jump on this story, check it out on the other news source, foxnews.com, find all the day's stories right there, foxnews.com.

jon: a bleak underway in montcoal, west virginia, were are awaiting a news

conference in the governor, joe manchin, he is expected to step to the microphones and talk about the recovery efforts for the four miners still missing after that big blast there. the thing has been delayed for more than an hour and a half now, it was expected to start at the bottom of the hour, it's now 25 minutes almost beyond that, and still, no word from the governor. whether that means there are developments, perhaps they are getting closer to know what has happened to those four missing miners. we don't know the reason for the delay. but a delay it is. and when the governor steps to those microphones, we'll take you there live. jane we want to get to medical news now, in a disturbing health trend that is raising a lot of concerns in the medical community. more and more americans are ending up in the hospital after overdosing on prescription drugs, up 65 percent from 1999-2006. dr. lee is a director of an emergency room and director at the maryland school of

medicine. we're talking about painkillers and sedatives here, names that will be familiar to people, oxy conic, percocet, valium, xanax and these are accidental overdose? >> yes, because what happens is you go to a back doctor, he gives you the pain medicine, he that maybe you're seeing a psychiatrist or your family doctor has given you antidepressants and before you know it, you have this kind of polypharmacy and you're getting too sedated, taking too many drugs and it can depress your recent operation and cause an overdose. jane: some doctors have said the 2as, the availability and attitude out there, the availability is incredible. if you look at it today, and if you talk anecdotally, people are taking these drugs like crazy and their attitudes are pretty lax about it. >> yeah, i mean, people seem to think there's always a risk benefit with any drug you take and people, you know, we do have this attitude, quick fix, take a pill, you'll get better. we have too many things to

kind of slow down and rest, if you have back pain, and that's a problem. and i think, you know, some people, there's prolonged relief drugs that people break them in half because they think i don't really need that much, i'm not in that much rain and that releases all the drugs at once and that can cause an overdose. you really have to talk to your doctor, talk to the pharmacist. jane: it's interesting, too, because we've heard that young people have been using prescription drugs and abusing them a lot but this study found it was really people middle-aged and they also found they were city dwellers, mostly. why is it, do you think? >> it's not that they were not abusing the drugs, i think a lot of these -- and they talked about women, you know, they come in, they have complaints and aches, you know, and doctors will just -- sometimes it's unfortunate but it's easier to write a prescription than really delve into the problem or give a pill for depression and i think these women are unaware these drugs work together and that they can depress recent operation and cause all these problems. we saw it with the celebrities but it's

happening every day, to every day americans. jane: doctor, thank you for your thoughts. jon: exactly what happened inside the performance mine in west virginia where that terrible explosion, one of the worst this country has seen in a quarter century or more? well t. has taken so many lives. they are still looking for four miners who they hope might be trapped underground in some safety rooms. we are awaiting a news conference from west virginia governor joe manchin. when he steps to the microphones, you're there microphones, you're there with us live. 4 pounds of sirloin. but only wrap half... i'll just throw it out anyway. we throw out over $500 worth of food every year. help save more of it with new ziploc freezer bags featuring smartzip. it's a seal you can actually hear close... from edge to edge so you know your food is protected. now that's ziplogic. ziploc freezer bags with the new smartzip seal. get ziploc. and get more out of it. s.c. johnson. a family company.

identity theft, a serious crime that strikes millions of americans. when identity theft strikes you, it can seem... like no one will listen, and no one is there to help. but there is one place you can turn... for real protection and real peace of mind. lifelock. at lifelock, our only business is helping protect your identity. lifelock protects your information and never sells it. that's why lifelock is the leader in identity theft protection. a member called in right away, i could tell that it was going to be a serious... conversation with just the simple tone of her voice. this man had dreams of buying a home. he had found out that there had been two mortgages... taken out in his name. a member called lifelock, um, she was crying very hard. i could barely understand her. he didn't have the time or the money to take care... of this problem and lifelock did it for him. i was able to go ahead and resolve the situation, get her taken care of, and i had her joking...

and laughing by the end of the call. it gives me a sense of satisfaction knowing... that as a lifelock member service agent... i can help them to be able to put their fears at rest... and know that they can be protected. lifelock is proactive protection, working to help... stop identity theft before it happens. lifelock's exclusive identity alert system... goes beyond just new credit, giving you much more than just credit monitoring. it's like having a digital fingerprint. if a new application doesn't match you, we send an alert and help fix it for you. the biggest difference is stopping it before it starts. don't wait another minute. call now and immediately start enjoying the confidence, security, and peace of mind only lifelock can offer. call the number on your screen and mention shredder ... to receive this special offer. real people, real protection, real peace of mind. don't wait until it's too late. get your lifelock protection started immediately. call now.

jon: a fox news alert. defense secretary robert gates is announcing portions of the president's new strategy on nuclear weapons. let's listen in. >> first preventing nuclear proliferation and terrorism. reducing the role of nuclear weapons in the u.s. security strategy. maintaining strategic security at nuclear force levels. strengthening regional deterrence and reassuring u.s. allies and partners. sustaining a safe, secure and effective nuclear arsenal. this including significant chains. new policies remove some of the calculated ambiguity in previous policy. in a non-nuclear weapon state is

in compliance with the non-proliferation treaty and its obligations the u.s. pledges not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against it. if any state eligible for this assurance were to use chemical or biological weapons against the u.s. or its allies or partners it would face the potential of a military response. the united states reserves the right to make any adjustment to this policy that may be warranted by the evolution and proliferation of biological weapons. the review rightly places the prevention of nuclear terrorism and proliferation at the top of the u.s. nuclear policy agenda. given al qaeda's quest for weapons and iran and north

korea's proliferation, this is an he extension change from previous reviews. the npr concluded stable concurrent can be maintained while reducing defense 50%. the united states will pursue high level bilateral dialogues on stability with russia and china. this npr determined the united states will not develop new nuclear war heads. program to extends the lives of warheads will use components based on previously tested designs and will not support new it in miss or capabilities. we'll study options for insuring the safety, security and stability of nuclear warheads on a case-by-case basis. on any decision to proceed to

engineering developments we'll give strong options to refurbishment or reuse. replacement of nuclear components would require specific presidential approval. the united states must make much needed investments to rebuild our infrastructure in facilities and personnel. i have asked for $5 billion to be transferred from the department of defense to the department of energy to improve our nuclear infrastructure and support a credible modernization program. there are areas of continuity in this report. the united states will continue to hold accountable any state, terrorist group that supports or enables use of weapons of mass destruction. second we'll maintain the nuclear triad of.

we'll continue to develop and improve non-nuclear capabilities including regional missile defenses to strengthen deterrence and reduce the role of nuclear weapons. finally the united states will continue abiding by its pledge not to conduct nuclear testing. this npr while led by the department of defense was from beginning to end an inner agency effort. i want to express my thanks to all departments. if i would like to thank the men and women of the departments of defense and energy including the national labs who are critical to sustaining our nuclear arsenal. it underwrites the security of the united states as well as our partners and allies. >> thank you very much secretary

gates. let me begin by thanking you for your leadership in this effort and the collaboration that persisted throughout it. the nuclear posture review we are releasing today represents a milestone in the transformation of our nuclear forces and the way in which we approach nuclear issues. we are recal braight our priorities -- we are recalibrating our priorities and reducing the role and number of weapons in our arsenal while maintaining a safe, secure and effective deterrent to protect our nation, allies and partners. this npr provides the foundation on which we and our allies can build a more secure future. this review is important not only for what it says, but also the way in which it was conducted. i believe it is the first unclassified npr in its totality. secretary gates is responsible for making this the most

inclusive nuclear posture review in history. admiral mull lynn, the joint chiefs have been instrumental in working through the issues. the department of energy has brought its expertise to the table and i'm proud of the role the state department played in helping set the policy and we'll be working with our allies and partners to explain the and implement it. so it was a collaborative effort in keeping with the agenda and goals set by president obama. the consultations that supported this process included more than 30 of our allies and partners. for generations the united states' nuclear deterrent has helped prevent proliferation by providing non-nuclear allies in nato with reassurance and security. the poll sirs jute lined -- the policies outlined in this review

allow us to continue that role. we'll work with partners to prevent nuclear proliferation and terrorism. we work to advance that agenda beginning with last year's u.n. security council summit and the president's speech in prague. jane: you have been hearing from the secretary of state and the defense secretary about this policy that con traints our use of -- that constrains our use of nuclear weapons. by in the meantime we have breaking news. jon: west virginia governor joe manchin on the coal mine disaster. >> that's the situation at we are in. that's the anxiety people are having rite now. the families are doing very

well. there is no family like a west virginia family because they will take care of you, their own family and bring anyone else in that wants to be part of that family. they are doing what they do best. they are loving each other and hanging together. it's very difficult for them. ron wooten is the head our safety and health and his responsibilities is the mines much west virginia. we have our friends here jermaine. so if there is any questions -- and is there not a whole lot except they are going to be drilling four holes, i understand. not just three. correct? three for ventilation and one for monitoring. you can't believe the operation that's gone on on that mountain.

i can't explain how you are taking such a huge piece of equipment the size of a trailer cut. cutting a road in the side of the mott and start drilling. it's the most unbelievable -- and god bless them they are giving it all they have. and it's a slow process. >> can i ask you. i just spoke with an expert who said this mine is known as a gassy mine. and there were safety violations just in the last month. was this disaster preventable? >> from our state and federal people who basically have the responsibility of looking and doing all the mine inspections, that's an easy answer. all explosions are preventable. it's just making sure you have things in place to keep one from occurring.

we put minimum parameters in place that a mine operator would need to follow to make sure he has enough air and ventilation to keep an explosion from occurring. not just an explosion, but emission. it's quietest something went very -- it's quite evident that something was wrong and i would just ask to give us an opportunity to conduct a full investigation and we'll leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom and tell you exactly what was not going right here when this explosion did occur. >> the chief executive of the state -- some officials described the people who are operating this mine, massi, as among the worst offenders and they have a long history not just in this mine, but across the board for violations, fines,

lawsuits. as the chief executive of this state, are you comfortable with the may massey has been operating? >> i'm not comfortable any time there is an accident no matter who it is. let me tell you where i and. 1968 -- where i stand. nothing had been done up until 1968 since the 50s. why? we had a horrible explosion in farmington *. nothing had been done since the 70s up until sago. i kept saying we didn't get rapid response. we didn't have oxygen, communications, we didn't have shelters. when people got trapped i wanted to make sure we had a chance to bring them out alive. we make historic changes in one

day. i can't make any excuse nor do i intend to. when the investigation is completed and these people do their job and they will give us the mindings and there is anything at all that gives us and indication something is out of whack. we'll pass legislation immediately if it's needed. if not i would expect the professionals to change the position or how they do this. we have been talking about that. everybody is in a recovery mode. we are hoping that we can still by a miracle recover some miners who are still alive. >> you know their history of violations. you know the history of court action and beating back fines and violations. are you comfortable with the way massey has been operating in your state as a whole. >> you are never comfortable when you have this. i just ask the same question you

are asking me to my chief. let them explain this process how this works because a violation you would think if someone says someone is in violation. i'm going to believe that must be a serious egregious violation. why would that continue? the people who work with this every day can give you a better explanation of how they work with it, how they inspect. what they look for. i said if something is to where a person's health is jeopardized. and their safety, stoipt, shut it down -- stop it, shut it down. they know how i feel. i'm clear about that. >> [inaudible] the explosion. >> i can only tell you -- i can only say when the rescuers that were in the mine saw what they

were able to see until they had to come out and the type of damage that was done, that it had to be a horrific explosion to cause that type of damage. for instance rails that had -- cars, buggies and heavy equipment that go back in looked like they had been twisted like a pretzel. that's horrific. that's an explosion beyond proportion. the heat off that explosion that caused that would be something. ron might be able to shed light on what the process -- >> let me say first that i certainly endorse what captain strike -- what captain strictland said about the investigation. it will be lengthy, when need to find everything we possibly can that possibly went wrong and make sure it doesn't happen

again. as far as the violation issue is concerned, let me say this, i think the federal and state laws are sound. once an inspector finds a citation or violation, that inspector is to write a citation. the operator is then given a period of time to correct that violation. if the operator doesn't correct that violation in a timely manner a closure order is issued. the fine comes after the fact. well after the fact. after the violation itself has been corrected. the conditions of the violation have been corrected. >> after the disasters in 2006emsha and the congressional folks, a big so porter of change

the laws to make it safer through refuge chambers, better stoppings, and the one other thing that was added to it was the increase candidate assessments for violations. the intent was to increase the amount of fines so it's not just a way of doing business for coal mine operators. i think that has served its purpose. however, it's still gives the operator the opportunity for due process. he's not guilty to proven innocent, he's innocent until proven guilty and he gets his opportunity to go to court and basically challenge any violation that has been issued by one of my inspectors. that's not only for a massey mine, that's any mine in the country. that's something in place today and that's something the regulations allow.

you are asking if i had the ability to shut a mine down based on what i find and the answer to that is no. once a mine operator corrects the condition and makes it safe again, i can't allow -- i can't allow my inspectors to say, you keep that mine shut down when the condition is corrected, they are allowed to go back to mining. >> how would you characterize the record in this mine? >> i haven't looked at it as closely as the other folks have. we have been dealing with the rescue operation. i heard the number 458 violations issued. that's probably on the high side as far as an average. but this mine is a larger mine. i'm concerned the number of d orders which is a heavier type of paper that's been issued, it means more than a 04-a or

regular citation would be issued and it mean the operator would be aware of some of these conditions. we'll have the time to slice and dice every one of these violations during our investigation and determine not only if we issued it correctly but if there is anything that emsha could have done differently during our inspections at the mine. >> what does it say this happened again and none of those things that the governor just mentioned prevented any of it. >> from what the prelim their i things that i see is -- the preliminary things i see is the miners did not have an opportunity to get to that point. if they had gotten to that point they would have gotten to the refuge chambers. it appears the majority of them didn't have the opportunity to get to that. we are hoping the four

individuals unaccounted for a chance that they might have gotten to a refuge chamber. we can't say it didn't work yet. but indications are that the majority of the miners did not have the opportunity to utilize some of the better things that were put into the miner act in 2006. we did -- the congressman made a good point. there was definitely a quicker response. this occurred at:00 p.m. and -- this occurred by 3:00 p.m. and by 3:00 in the morning we accounted for 18 of the 22 missing miners. if we look at the response times in the past it basically would not add up to what we saw yesterday. so that is definitely a positive that we have seen in the miner act of 2006.

>> [inaudible] families know about what happened to their family members? >> we were just down meeting with the families. and a representative was there. they came in after i started talking. what it was said, we know the names of the 8 people still in the -- we know the names of 18 people still in the mine. we don't know the fate of four of them. you want to hold on to one of those we don't know and maybe could be a miracle and could be alive would be yours. so with that anxiety we have the people that were complaining saying that there are some people at home that didn't come to the mine that weren't notified in men, and the gentleman apologized and said they would -- if there was someone they could bring to their attention, this woman talked about her sister-in-law. they had been talking to the

family members who were there. but that's not good enough. they need personal contact with the surviving spouse or the person that's waiting and not knowing. just seeing what they see when they are here at the media. jane: pretty dramatic words from the governor of west virginia. he said it had to be an horrific explosion to cause the damage the rescues crews are saying it caused. talking about twisted rails. he said it could be tomorrow night before the first hole can be drilled to begin intensively this rescue effort. he talked about how they couldn't even reach -- they haven't been able to reach three of the four who are still missing. he doesn't want to give false hope, but they are not giving up. in the community so many are reaching out to those who need

support. thank you for taking the time to talk to us. reverand, what are the families in need of at this hour? >> basically they are in need of support. let them know they are supported by the community. they are supported by their family. local churches get together and lift them up and encourage them. encouragement is what they need rite now, and love. and let them know that the community is there behind them and the churches are behind them as well. jane: i can imagine the wait is almost unbearable for some as we wait for the fate of those four and the bodies to be removed of those we know have perished. >> i can't even imagine what they are going through. but that's our job to be there to listen and uphold and let them know there are people out

there that care. but for the families that god gives them the peace beyond all understanding, just pray that it's soon. jane: in the range of motions the family members are going through, are they angry at the mine? we heard the governor and investigators talk about what may have happened here. >> i think basically what we are seeing and hearing is basically shock. because of no real news has been given much. it's just a shock of what happened yesterday. and trying to get over that. and that's why we are here to minister to hemn. i -- to minister to them. i represent stevens ministry to help them deal with that shock and trauma that went on. and that's what we are here for,

to lift them you have and let them know there is help in the trauma. there is help in the shock that went on. and we are here as an extension of the church to let them know that they do have help in the rescue. jane: are they getting enough from the company itself? we heard the governor reference that. >> i'm not sure exactly what they are getting from the company. i do not know what massey has done or hasn't done. but i know they will get enough from the churches. and the lord. and we need to reach out our hands to them. we were sent down here by the senior pastor ken wright and pastor boyd england. they wanted us to be able to minister and show our love and let them know god is still there. jane: our thoughts are with you and that community. thank you for taking the time to

speak with us. >> thank you fox news for the coverage you have done. jon: imagine a world without nuclear weapons. the obama administration says it's taking a step in that direction. but when countries like iran are threatening to increase their nuclear capabilities, is that a smart move? sluggish. my daughter needed activia! so i gave it a try and wow. it works. now she has a spring on her step. i'm loving it, every morning. mmmm. avo: help get your system back on track. activia with bifidus regularis helps regulate your digestive system would you recommend activia? i already have. she recommends it. what are you waiting for? singer: activia. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements.

the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

>> we are watching two big stories in the weather center. we are talking record highs in parts of the east. washington, d.c., 86. baltimore, maryland, this is more reminiscent of what we would see in july. we'll break records across richmond. columbia, south carolina, 93. the other big story is the

potential for severe weather where we have a line of showers and thunderstorms across the mid-atlantic and the northeast across the great lakes and the midwest where we could see the pea tension for hail, damage -- -- where we could see the potential for hail, damaging winds. down through parts of the southern plains we are watching for the potential of strong to severe storms. we have a severe thunderstorm watch in effect for parts of michigan as well as northern illinois and ohio until 2:00 p.m. eastern time. again the potential for severe the weather. we'll continue to track it on the fox weather center. i'm janice dean. jon: with mining disasters and tornado warnings, how about good news on the jobs front. according to a new labor department report, more people actually gained jobs than lost them last month. jenna lee is here to explain

that. >> this is the only second time in the entire recession we saw that where more people got hired than got laid off. it's a little bit troubling. when we look at job openings and actuallying, that number is lower in february compared to january. so let me show you what this looks like. what this report does, it shows us how many people are competing for every one open position. you want to see that number around 2 or 3. but it's at 5 and a half. if you look at january it was lower than that. just to hit home about what that means per sector. take a look at construction jobs. for every one open construction job you have 39 americans competing for that job. that's lower than the 50 we saw a few months ago. the financial services job market also have five americans competing. this one survey, capital one

small business survey takes a look at small businesses and how they are feel being the economy. this showed half of the small businesses surveyed between december of last year and the start of this year showed they are optimistic about where their business is going. they are not looking to invest and they are concerned about demand for their product. what that leads to is not necessarily a whole lot of hiring. it is good we saw more hires than fires when it comes to february but we still would like to see more job openings and more hirings overall. jenna, thank you. jane: moments ago we saw a big shift in our nuclear strategy from the obama administration. take a listen to what defense secretary robert gates had to say. >> the review placed the prevention of nuclear terrorism at at top of the agenda. given al qaeda's continued dweft

for nuclear weapons and north koreas proliferation and iran's nuclear efforts this is an essential change from previous reviews. jane: this has some people asking, will this keep us safe going forward. joe, good to see you. what's your take on it, the gist of this. >> i got my briefing and my power point display from the department of defense at the white house. this is a very solid pragmatic sort of middle of the road document. it keeps u.s. nuclear forces, it puts more money in the budget to modernize the forces, make sure they are safe, secure and reliable. bit also starts reorienting our nuclear posture away from the cold war threat of a global thermal nuclear war and towards today's threat of nuclear

terrorism and new nuclear states. in doing that it lets us reduce the number of nuclear weapons down from the 10s of thousands when had during the cold war to a few thousand today and it reduces their role. it says we don't need to be using these weapons to target bunkers or trucks. that we reserve them primarily to defend the united states against nuclear attack. jane: what about north korea, iran and syria? >> this puts them on notice. it lays out what the u.s. position is. it says the united states will not use nuclear weapons against any country that doesn't have them unless those countries are not in full compliance with their treaty obligations. that unless is a specific reference to iran and north korea. it warns them if you keep violating your treaty obligations, you will be under the -- you will be in the nuclear cross hairs of the united states. jane: what if one of these

non-nuclear countries attacks us with a chemical or biological weapon? >> this is what the secretary of defense was presenting today. some would like there to be a complete ban on using nuclear weapons september in a -- except in a nuclear war situation. say north korea were to attack south korea. maybe using chemical weapons. there the u.s. says we still might consider using nuclear weapons and they did this in close consultation with the south koreans. so there are some circumstances where you could imagine using nuclear weapons. they are reserving our right to do so. jane: what do you say to those who say this will make us less secure and we are losing the power of a deterrent. >> people have to take a look at how many hydrogen bombs we have. we have 10,000 nuclear weapons.

half of those are in the active stockpile. half of those are deployed. i don't think anyone can imagine what military circumstance to require us to fire 1,000, 2,000 nuclear weapons. we need to get away from the 1940s thinking into the 21st century. how to stop nuclear terrorism. we can do that with fewer numbers of weapons and we can keep those weapons safe and secure without nuclear testing. this posture review puts the joint chiefs of staff in favor of ratifying the nuclear test ban treaty that president obama will sign thursday. jane: are we expecting the big pours in the world to follow suit and would they? >> we are expecting russia, the other big nuclear power, they have about as many nuclear weapons as we do, to follow

suit. that's what the signing in prague is all about thursday. nobody is talking about unilateral disarmament. we are going to be following closely what they do. but this posture does imagine a time where you could have all the nuclear arm countries negotiating together step by step reductions. we'll do it step by step, no rush. completely verifiable. we don't know if we can ever eliminate nuclear weapons, but this is a roadmap to start down that path. jon: a fox news alert. a middle school evacuated in north texas. harris is on it from the breaking news desk. >> let me tell you what you are looking at. this is coming out of texas. this is the second school to be evacuated after someone says they found a suspicious package or powder.

it started several hours ago at a different school. which is just a few miles away in garland, texas. the secretary opened an envelope and out spilled powder onto her desk. she said she started itching. she evacuated several hundred students. they later found that white powdery substance was harmless, but they didn't right away say what it is. but harmless. now, you move on just a short period of time later on this is armstrong elementary you are looking at now. they have done what they often do. they set up a triage situation if there is anybody in that school that come out with a reaction from another now second package that's been found, they can put them in this triage situation. but so far no reports of that. school known to be 750 kids strong. there has been evacuated. if we learn more about what they found here at this second school

in north texas, i'll let you know. back to you guys. jane: there has been a shakeup at republican party headquarters. does it affect the candidates in 2010? heel pressure.

high arches. (announcer) people everywhere are discovering dr. scholl's custom fit orthotic center. backed by foot care scientists, its foot mapping technology identifies the areas you put pressure on then recommends the right orthotic. for locations see drscholls.com.

megyn: i'm megyn kelly. today on the show, we talk westboro baptist church. round two. the children were playing in the bouncy castle. then the twister hit. picking it up with the children. the incredible video you have got to see. the lawsuit against the "desperate housewives" production. join us that the top of the hour. jane: the chief of staff of the republican national committee is stepping down. it was revealed the committee

spent $1,900 to entertain young donors at a risque nightclub. >> a lot of people think it's way overdue. michael steele about it admission of most republicans has had a rocky tenure. in the last couple days it has come to a head and the chief of staff had to resign. ken mckay has stepped aside and has been replaced by his deputy. as a consequence, michael steele now has lost his senior adviser kurt anderson in protest trying to keep some who think they should have stayed the course. but the republican national committee has had criticism of the chairman spending too much money on his office and travel.

the receipts suggesting they went to a late-night bondage club for some donors was just too much. once all of these staffers have been replaced. many believe it's an opportunity for steele to redeem his chairmanship because it has attracted so much criticism from the gop itself. jane: it seem the big shots are divided on whether to do something drastic. >> there are some who believe you should clean out everybody and start from scratch, including michael steel. and that's been underway for the better part of a year. he likes to talk and make headlines. but sometimes those headlines have been verbal gaffes. there was a criticism that he's not best known as an administrator. not a workhorse, but more of a

show horse. people think there is a little bit of laziness. but rather than shoot holes in the bottom of the boat and let it sink. the republican party says we made some changes. now let's start bailing. the mid-terms elections are the big one one since 1994. so trashing the chairman is not in their best interests. jon: we have the former senior adviser and spokesperson for john mccain. at a time when republicans seem to be on a roll. how much of a distraction is this? >> i think it will be -- the democrats will try to make this a huge distraction and the republicans' job is to keep their eye on the ball, that's what you are seeing today. folks are saying the american

people are concerned about one credit card primarily and that's the nation's credit card. the tremendous bills, the trillions of dollars put on that nation's credit card through healthcare and bailouts. and that's what we should be talking about. that and job kree takes rather -- job creation. clean up this problem because it shouldn't have occurred. but stay focused on what the american people are focused on. >> it's a pipe dream to assume the democrats are going to do it. the republicans are the ones shooting each other. chairman steele is creating a mess. he has a donor problem and leadership problem. i think a lot of members of the republican party aren't behind chairman steele. and he's got to fix his money issue. so the tea party, by the way is causing him tremendous problems in dividing the republican party

up. i think the republicans can keep shooting each other. ideally they would like to be talking about other things, but they have their hands full. jon: if you are a small donor and you want to send $100 to the committee and then you find out this money was used at this club, that has a put a damper on people's enthusiasm. >> it doesn't help matters. but i think people are responding to the national scene more than the rnc. that's why you are seeing an outpouring. if i were harry reid i would be counting my days and trying to figure out what my next job was. but it was an issue that should not have occurred. i would have moved toward correcting things in the finance area. looked at the treasurer. something that we want not gust

from in you are polite -- that we want in our political parties and at the national level. people are frustrated by it. jon: you mentioned 36% national approval rating for the republicans. what is the democrats rating? >> the democrats in congress also have problems. but again they have the white house and leapership and they have action. the republicans are the do-nothing party and they are shouting at each other. as far as i'm concerned, let the republicans keep chewing each other up and not putting a single idea out. let the dem krants continuing -- let the democrats continue to solve problems. jon: there seems to be a mentality of throw the buments out everywhere. it crosses party lines. >> i think it's true that right now all numbers aren't where

they want to be. the president's numbers are higher than those in congress. i think it will take the president and the democrats to sell what they got accomplished. and that's what ultimately will be up for vote in november. jon: we'll see. thank you both. jane: a couple stories we are watching. bun is biofuel. but congress pulled the plug on industry support. could it push the president's green energy plan jobs in jeopardy? also the pictures we are getting from north texas. a second school there has been evacuated. middle school had been shut down because there was suspicious powder found in an envelope opened by a secretary. now in a nearby town an elementary school has been evacuated. these are live pictures. harris is work on more details. we'll be right back.

these are actual farmers who raise vegetables in campbell's condensed soup. so if you've ever wondered who grew my soup, well, here they are. ♪ so many, many reasons ♪ it's so m'm! m'm! good! ♪ here's what we can do with 4g from sprint. using the overdrive 4g mobi hotspot, jimmy's playing some video game online, jenny's video-chatting with a friend, nd i'm downlding a huge presentati. and while that's happening, we'll enjoy some family time. [ computer beeps ] that was good. what can you do with 4g? [ male announcer ] experience 4g from sprint. it's more than a wireless network. deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilities, it's a wireless revolution. access www.sprintrelay.com.

onwere an evacuation is underway at a second texas school. harris faulkner is on it. >> reporter: that's what you are looking at right now. some of the parents have started to pick up kids. but you seat children have been evacuated there. second school today in north texas to be evacuated for suspicious mail. and now i can tell you that fbi -- a spokesperson is telling local reporters the agency is involved in the response to this suspicious mail. the agency is assisting with the investigation of these two schools are letters have been found where a white powdery substance was spilling outer to covering these letters. they have taken one person to

the hospital. a secretary who opened one of these letters at her desk at the first school, she is said to be okay. she was complaining of itching. authorities are saying it is a non-toxic substance. you are looking live where they have vac kateed the second school. jane: kings allowing the biofuel to expire. why they aren't renewed the subsidy. >> reporter: essentially the healthcare debate sucked the oxygen out of washington, d.c.

and put everything else on the back burner. i talked to providers in this industry, they say everything took a back seat. what this tax break is needed would be $600 million and because healthcare is so expensive, and because so much money is needed to pay for healthcare, congress can't find a way to pay for other measures like these green jobs initiatives. the house and the senate have passed their versions of the job creation bills. however, the reconciliation is taking oner than anybody would have anticipated. the bottom line is a renewable energy source that was considered a rock star a few short years ago is fighting for its very life. >> the biofew industry has had less than a decade to develop and mature. we need to provide a assistance in the beginning. we have done the same with hydro, wind and nuclear.

>> when the technology doesn't live up to the promise, they then come back and say if we only had more subsidies, more regulation, then our technology would work. >> reporter: this biodiesel industry is running at 10% capacity. jane: what are the pro expects going forward? >> reporter: they are at cross-roads. there are 179 plants across the country. 10% are idle. so the question is will this tax break get passed? some believe that it will. if that subsidy does go into effect you will see these companies survive another year. but luster is off the apple with this industry because many people are questioning how green it is and wet were it's worth it to keep pumping so much money into it. jon: afghan president hamid karzai is threatening to join

the taliban? is this for real? that coming up on "america live." irregularity. my commercials didn't convince you? i'm definitely a skeptic. actually, my mom convinced me. and i have activia every morning for breakfast. activia definitely helped with my occasional irregularity. help get your system back on track. activia, with bifidus regularis helps regulate your digestive system. chances are someone you trust can recommend activia. ♪ activia! and try activia fiber. a delicious blend of cereal, fiber and activia yogurt.

jon: a fox news alert, and some strange doings in texas right now, you're looking at live pictures from saxi, texas, courtesy of kbfw, where that school has been evacuated, this a armstrong elementary school in saxi, about 750 kids go there,

apparently some kind of white powder forced the evacuation of that school. it's similar to what happened a little bit earlier in garland, texas where either ridge elementary had to be evacuated, of about 750 students, after a school worker opened an envelope, white powder came pouring out, the worker said that it was making her itchy, she was taken to a hospital emergency room, and then part of the emergency room had to be cordon dollars off or evacuated because of the potential danger of this powder. now, apparently authorities took a look at what she opened, found it was not dangerous, but at any rate, it's causing all kinds of havoc. worth noting that state valuation tests are going to be -- evaluation tests are underway, a lot of students don't like taking those tests. jane: what are you saying, jon scott? jon: i'm just saying! megyn: i'm megyn kelly, this is "america live"